GRANDVILLE, MI – Troy Turnbull played “show and tell” on Monday, Aug. 25, when he brought U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga into his back shop at Industrial Innovations, the company he owns and manages at 2936 Dormax St. SW.

Turnbull, who recently expanded into the building after acquiring a Grand Haven rival, wanted to show Huizenga the type of investment he has made to bring his shop up to world-class standards.

What he now needs is the federal government’s help to train workers who can operate the machines, Turnbull told Huizenga, R-Zeeland.

“We have all these new machines that nobody has any idea of how to run,” Turnbull told Huizenga at the outset of the tour. “The training is expensive.”

It’s a message that Turnbull has taken to Washington, D.C recently as part of the "One Voice" summit, an advocacy program representing small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. Turnbull also is a board member of the Precision Metalforming Association.

Turnbull’s company, which has doubled its size to 18 employees since moving, specializes in making systems that lubricate the machines that stamp out and cast metal parts for a variety of industries.

The company has been able to expand its worldwide sales to more than $4 million on the strength of four patents it holds, Turnbull said.

Industrialists like Turnbull are applauding the recent reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Investment Act, a job training bill that has been one of the few new laws to emerge from both houses of Congress this year.

Huizenga voted for the bill on a 416-5 vote while U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, voted no. President Barak Obama signed the bill on July 22.

Turnbull’s group also is pushing for a reauthorization of a Bush-era law that allows companies to deduct up to $500,000 in new equipment purchases from their income tax.

The law, which expires this year, would return the limit to $25,000, according to Huizenga aide, Greg VanWoerkem.

For Turnbull, the legislation will provide a career path for kids like his son, a 19-year-old Grand Rapids Community College student who is studying industrial maintenance technology and helping out on the shop floor.